Chapter 11
Chapter Eleven
S ierra
“Asshole,” I mumbled as I grabbed my purse.
I walked over to Tristan’s desk, gripping my purse strap.
“Hey, you.” He smiled.
“Don’t smile at me.” I narrowed my eyes. “Who the hell are you telling about Ken and Friday night? I just got busted and yelled at by Jack.”
“Shit.” He chewed his bottom lip. “I only said something to Grace. I swear.”
“Why would you say anything at all? That was between us.” I shook my head and headed toward the elevator.
With Jack’s list in my hand, I strolled through the grocery store, throwing the items he needed into the cart. A woman dressed in an elf outfit stood behind a small display of holiday cookies, passing out free samples.
“Holiday cookie?” She smiled as I passed by.
I stopped and stared at how ridiculous she looked. “No. And really?” My brows furrowed. “Do they pay you enough to dress like that?”
“Someone has the holiday blahs,” she said.
“The holidays suck, lady. One day, you’ll realize it.” I walked away.
Maybe I shouldn’t have said that, but Jack put me in a mood, and dealing with all the holiday bullshit amplified it. I was done with him—over it. How dare he shout at me the way he did. If I didn’t need the money so badly, I would walk out and never look back.
Pulling out my phone, I checked my bank account because I was sure we got paid today. Looking at my check deposit from Atlas Enterprises, something wasn’t right, which fueled my anger even more. I didn’t care that I was in the grocery store. I was calling Jack to see what was going on.
“What do you need, Sierra?” he answered rudely.
“I noticed my direct deposit went through today, and I want to know why my check is so low.”
“Have you forgotten that I lent you two months’ worth of rent? I told you that it was coming out of your paycheck.”
“I know that, Jack. But for fuck’s sake, I had no idea you’d be taking chunks out at a time. There’s barely anything left.”
“Well, you won’t work for me much longer, and I need my money back. How would you expect me to collect it once you’re no longer employed at Atlas Enterprises? I’m not sure why you’re complaining. You still have a roof over your head.”
“Yeah. For the time being. Goodbye, Jack.” I ended the call. “Motherfucker,” I mumbled as I pushed the cart to the checkout.
I shoved the three bags into the cab and climbed inside, giving the driver Jack’s address. When he pulled up to the curb, I climbed out, grabbed the bags, and took them up the porch steps, setting them down while I unlocked the door. Stepping inside his home, his scent lingered throughout the space. I took the bags to the kitchen and began unpacking them. I may have picked up a couple of things for myself since I had his credit card.
I froze when I heard the doorbell ring. Walking over to the door, I slowly opened it and saw a woman and a little girl standing there.
“Can I help you?”
“Are you Jack’s housekeeper?” she asked.
“Uh, no. I’m his assistant. And you are?”
“Claire. And this is Jack’s daughter, Elianna.”
“Excuse me?” My brow arched.
“I’m sure he never told you he has a kid. May we come in?”
“Uh, sure.” My brows furrowed.
She stepped inside, holding the little girl’s hand and pulling a suitcase behind her.
“I went to Jack’s office, and someone told me he was across town for a meeting. I’ve been trying to call him for a week, and he can’t even be bothered to pick up his damn phone or call me back. I knew he had a housekeeper, so I came here from his office.”
“She’s on vacation,” I said.
“Why are you here? Shouldn’t you be at the office?”
“I had to run a couple of errands for him.”
“Of course. God forbid he does anything himself.”
“I’m sorry.” I shook my head. “Why are you here?”
“I need to speak with Jack. Do you have any aspirin? I have a killer headache.”
“I’m sure he has some aspirin around here. I’ll be right back,” I said, walking out of the living room.
I couldn’t believe this. I couldn’t believe Jack had a kid and never mentioned it. In fact, I never saw any pictures of her on his desk. I opened all the cabinets in the kitchen, searching for some aspirin. When I had no luck, I opened the cabinet in the half bath and found a bottle sitting on the shelf. Grabbing it, I took a bottle of water from the refrigerator and returned to the living room, where I saw Elianna sitting on the couch by herself, holding a small baby doll. My heart started racing as I looked around for Claire and called her name.
“She left,” Elianna spoke in a cute little voice.
“Left?”
I ran to the front door, opened it, and saw Claire climbing into the cab at the curb.
“Claire, wait!” I shouted, running up to the cab.
The cab quickly pulled away from the curb, and I stood there staring at it as it drove down the street.
“Shit!” I threw my hands up.
Walking back inside the house, I stared at the child as she sat on the couch, hugging her doll.
“Hi, Elianna. I’m Sierra.” I knelt in front of her. “How old are you?”
“Four.” She held up four fingers.
“Wow. You’re a big girl.” I smiled. “Who’s this?” I pointed to her doll.
“My baby.”
“She’s cute. Does she have a name?”
“Marissa. I’m hungry.”
Shit. What did kids eat? I knew nothing about children.
“Come on. Let’s go into the kitchen and find something.” I held out my hand and helped her from the couch. “Do you like apples?”
She looked up at me and nodded. I picked her up and set her on the stool at the island. Taking an apple from the refrigerator, I ran it under cold water, dried it, and handed it to her. She stared at it.
“I eat it cut up,” she said.
“Oh. Okay.” I took the apple from her, pulled out a knife, and cut it into slices. “Do you like peanut butter?”
“Yes.”
I opened the pantry, pulled out the peanut butter jar, and put some on the plate next to the apple slices. Grabbing my phone, I called Jack. He declined the call, so I called again. I knew he was in a meeting, but I didn’t care. After three declined phone calls, he finally answered on the fourth.
“Sierra, I’m in a meeting!” he spoke authoritatively.
“I know, Jack. But?—”
“No buts. Whatever it is can wait until I return to the office.” He ended the call.
I stared at the four-year-old child dipping her apple slices into the peanut butter. She looked just like Jack but had blonde hair. They had the same blue eyes and nose. There was no denying she was his daughter—no denying it at all.
“Do you know where your mommy went?” I asked her.
She shook her head, biting into her apple. I needed a drink, so I grabbed a bottle of wine and poured some into a glass. I didn’t care if I was on work hours. This situation warranted a drink.
After Elianna finished her apple, I took her into the living room. I didn’t know what to do with her. Did I take her back to the office with me? Or did I wait for Jack to call me when he returned to the office and didn’t see me at my desk?
“Can I color?” Elianna asked, pointing to her pink backpack with the white kitty on it.
I picked up the bag and found it filled with coloring books and crayons. There was also an envelope with Jack’s name written across it. A bad feeling washed over me as I stared at it.
“Come on, Elianna. Let’s go sit at the table, and you can color.”
I took the coloring books and crayons from her backpack and spread them on the table. She took one of the books, opened it to a page, and began coloring. My phone rang. Grabbing it, I saw it was Jack.
“Hello.”
“Where the hell are you? There is no way you’re still running errands.”
“I tried to call you and explain but you didn’t want to listen and hung up on me.”
“I was in a meeting!” He loudly voiced.
“Well, you have a situation here at the house,” I said.
“What kind of situation?”
“I think you better come home and see for yourself.”
“Sierra, what the hell is going on? What happened? Is there a flood or something?”
“No. There’s someone here waiting for you.”
“Who?”
“Your daughter, Jack.”
“Excuse me? Claire is at my house?”
“She was, but she left and forgot to take someone with her. You need to come home.”
“Fuck! I’m on my way.”